CCM

Or otherwise known as Contemporary Christian Music is more like pop music for the Christian community. It is great to spark the spiritual interest of non-believers, that "Jesus music" can sound just as cool as secular music. The instrumentation, melody, harmony, form, voicing, beat and rhythm can all mimic secular pop music to a tee.

While at Seminary, being taught and influenced by all my professors and church musicians who loved the Word and sang the Word, God opened my eyes to some of the deception within this widely accepted genre of music.

The problem: the theology. The force of any song lies in it's text. More than melody, harmony, or any other factor, the TEXT is what is important in the song. In Classical music, people leave singing the melody. When people sit in church worship services, they often leave remembering more about the songs that were sung (and the text associated with those songs) than even the preacher's message. Melody makes text easier to remember. Jewish rabbis would have the entire Old Testament memorized (!) because they sang it!

If the text of a song presents a wrong theology of God, then it must be abandoned no matter how popular it is. That is one of the many things I loved about joining the worship leading at Southern and here at Christ Church - every song is trust-worthy in it's presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And not only should songs for the Church reflect correctly the Gospel proclaimed in Scripture, it should use Scriptural language but above all it should be Christ-centered!

Example: Michael W. Smith's song, Above All. The verses are good of themselves, however the problem comes with the chorus,

"Crucified, laid behind the stone,

You lived to die rejected and alone,

Like a rose, trampled on the ground

You took the fall,

And thought of me

Above all."

Wrong. God did not think of people above all the powers and principalities He conquered while, at the same time, rescue a perishing people for His own possession. God thought of HIMSELF above all! For God to put anyone or anything higher in His affections than Himself would be unjust, unloving, unrighteous idolatry! God would be a sinner! Many CCM songs can reflect terrible theology if you just listen.

Some excellent sources for Christ-centered music can be found in the link list in my right sidebar: Before The Throne Music, The Gettys, Sovereign Grace Music, and a new website I just explored, Glory Revealed. Which my friend Erin is having a give-away. This CD appears to be the best kind of music to be giving away. I would like to have these CDs for my own collection. *Hint, hint.* :-)